* FTSE 1O0 unchanged
* Next leads after results; WPP up on positive broker note
* AstraZeneca hit by U.S. regulatory delay
By Simon Jessop
LONDON, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Britain's leading stock index was steady early on Wednesday, continuing the previous session's rangebound trade ahead of the fresh economic data, with British jobless numbers and euro zone inflation figures due later.
The FTSE 100 blue-chip share index was little unchanged at 5,567.31 at 0750 GMT, after inching into positive territory late on Tuesday to its highest level since the end of April.
An overnight surge in the Nikkei after Japan intervened to dampen the yen and protect exporters failed to translate into a firm uptick in London trade, with the market looking closer to home for short-term direction.
"It (the intervention) has not really done much over here," said a London-based trader. "The market has had a very good run over the last few weeks and (investors) are looking for a point to take some profits off."
Britain's second-biggest fashion retailer, Next, led gainers, up over 3 percent after meeting forecasts with a 13 percent gain in operating profit and keeping its outlook, buoying retailers.
Also on the upside, advertising company WPP rose over 2 percent after bullish comments from Goldman Sachs in a review of European media agencies.
Looking ahead, investors will eye British and European unemployment data for guidance on the economic outlook, ahead of similar data out of the United States on Thursday, while euro zone CPI data was also due.
The British claimant count for August was forecast to have fallen by 3,000, with the ILO unemployment rate for July seen unchanged at 7.8 percent.
Antofagasta, Land Securities Group and Xstrata all went ex-dividend on Wednesday and have the potential to take 0.52 point off the index at current prices, according to Reuters calculations.
DRUGMAKER BLUES
On the downside, AstraZeneca was down over 1 percent after saying U.S. regulators had extended their review of the drugmaker's potential new blockbuster heart drug Brilinta by three months.
A Jefferies downgrade to "hold" from "buy" for peer GlaxoSmithKline, down 0.4 percent, added to sector woes and not even a Barclays Capital initiation at "overweight" could stop Shire slipping into the red.
On the second line, power station operator Drax Group fell over 3.5 percent after JP Morgan cut its rating on the stock to "underweight" from "neutral", citing its recent strong run in the face of worsening sector fundamentals.
Rightmove also fell, down over 1.8 percent, after UBS cut its rating on the stock to "neutral" from "buy". (Editing by Dan Lalor)